George H.W. Bush: elected President of the United States in 1988.
In the election of 1988, the republican duo of George H.W. Bush and J. Danforth Quayle successfully defeated Democrats Michael Dukakis and Reverand Jesse Jackson.
As a veteran of WWII, and a past member of Congress, Bush brought a wide range of experience to the White House.
Bush promised Americans a "kindler, gentler nation".
Drugs, Education, Environment
Like most people, George Bush was a strong opposer to spread of illegal drugs.
William Bennett was appointed the "drug czar" to oversee the nation's "war on drugs".
To improve education, Bush called a conference of the nation's governors to solve the current problems. Unfortunately, Bush explained that schools would have to raise money to put the standards into effect.
Another issue Bush was faced with was the environmental pollution. To help fufill the job as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Bush appointed environmental defender William Reilly. Reilly's first obstacle to overcome was nuclear waste. Nuclear waste was all the left over supplies from nuclear testing, which were extremely harmful to society. To decrease the amount of nuclear waste, 17 military plants manufacturing nuclear weapons were closed.
The Savings and Loan Crisis
S&Ls: savings and loan institutions that had long financed mortgages for Americans buying homes.
During Reagan's presidency, Reagan and his administration led a campaign to deregulate S&Ls. However, this led S&Ls to depend on real estate prices. When real estate prices spiraled downward in the1980s, many S&Ls went bankrupt. Once Bush took office, his administration set up a federal agency to take over all failed banks. Despite Bush's attempts to save S&Ls, the crisis had weakened the nation's banking system beyond repair.
To fix the S&Ls, George H.W. Bush and his administration estimated that it would cost $600 billion over 10 years.
Reducing the Deficit
Possible Solutions to decrease rising deficit:
cut taxes
raise more money
President Bush refused to raise taxes. During his campaign he is quoted saying, "Read my lips, No new taxes!"
Bush and Congress had to pas a budget to lower deficit by October 1st, if they wanted to avoid the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act going into effect.
FINAL BUDGET:
Raised taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, and gasoline. It also cut spending in many areas.
The result it would have: reduce deficit by nearly $500 billion over 5 years.
Flags and the Supreme Court
In 1989, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law making the burning of the American flag illegal. This strongly angered President Bush
To back up their decision, the Supreme Court argued that burning the flag was a form of free speech which was protected under the First Amendment. The First Amendment protected the freedom of speech, religion, and the press. Solutions: Bush called for a new amendment that would allow the states to outlaw defacing the American flag.
Other controversial issues facing Supreme Court: sex and race discrimination, abortion, and the death penalty.
Bush nominated New Hampshire judge, David Souter, to take Brennan's place on the Supreme Court. Souter's main strength was his ability to avoid controversial issues.----
A World in Transition
Important vocabulary:
economic sanctions- limits on trade and investment
divestiture- policy in which American universities sold their stock in companies that operated in South Africa.
The End of the Cold War?
SInce the end of WWII, Soviet dominated governments had controlled the nations of Eastern Europe. However, in 1989 and 1990, communist governments began to collapse one by one.
When a Solidarity leader was elected as head of the government, many changes began in Eastern Europe.
A Wall Comes Down
MOST SIGNIFICANT SYMBOL OF CHANGES AFTER THE WORLD WAR: The Berlin Wall comes down.
November 1989; Berlin wall was demolished and East & West Germany were reunited.
Official date of Germany's reunion: October 4, 1990.
Moving toward democracy
Demonstrations against communism rapidly spread throughout Eastern Europe. Czechoslovakia's communist government was forced to resign in 1989.
Rumania's dictator fled once prodemocracy demonstrations began. However, he was caught and executed along with his wife in December of 1989.
Gorbachev's power in the Soviet Union was threatened by anti-communist demonstrations.
Soviet Union was forced to begin new democratic reforms. This led to the possibility of the end of communism in the Soviet Union
The American response
Americans were enthusiastic when they heard about the democratic reforms in Eastern Europe. However, Bush remained cautious.
Congress decided that the money that had once gone toward the arms race could be used to expand social programs and reduce the deficit.
New Directions in Latin America
Bush took LESS militant approach to the war in Nicaragua than Reagan had. Bush created a bipartisan: U.S. would provide the contras with food, clothing, and medical supplies only. RELATIONS BETWEEN AMERICA AND NICARAGUA REMAINED UNCERTAIN.
Invasion of Panama
Panama served as a banking and shipping center for major drug dealers. December 20, 1989: Bush sent military forces into Panama to control Manuel Noriega who had participated in corruptions of Panamanian elections.
United States helped build a new government in Panama.
Unrest in China
In the spring of 1989 Chinese students began to campaign for democratic reforms. Tiananmen Square: the place where hundreds of thousands students gathered for their campaign. Army takes later arrived killing thousands of protesters. The United States did not take strong action against this event.
A Policy Toward South Africa
President Bush believed that by taking economic action against South Africa, many of the blacks would be hurt by the destruction of jobs. "constructive engagement" was a policy that kept quiet diplomacy and criticism toward S. Africa to a minimum.
Congress called for economic sanctions. (see definition at beginning of section).
in 1986, Congress passed a bill forbidding American firms to invest in South Africa. In 1989, South Africa elected F. W. de Klerk as their new president. He passed many reforms to ease racial tensions.
His most dramatic act: Freeing Nelson Mandela (a black opponent of apartheid who had been in prison for 27 years).
President Bush continued to keep sanctions in place even after all the reforms in South Africa.
War Clouds in the Middle East
Middle East remained a threat to world peace. Saddam Hussein (Iraqi leader) rebuilt his army after Iran-Iraq war. In 1990, his troops invaded Kuwait, causing problems among all nations.
A complex threat
Industrial nations became more dependent on oil in the 1980's. Saddam was on his way to controlling more than 80% of the worlds oil which caused threats to the entire world.
The World Responds To help stop Saddam, Bush sent forces to Saudi Arabia.
United Nations approved a total boycott of Iraq trade.
Saddam held Americans/foreigners as hostages in Kuwait/Iraq in response to United Nations warship blockade.
Fugitives in a Desert Drama
Saddam allowed foreign women and children to leave Kuwait, but that was all. Any Kuwaitis who helped keep Americans safe were shot and killed infront of their own homes. Many Americans spent time in hiding to keep the safe fro the Iraqi forces.
War in the Persian Gulf
President Bush convinced the United Nations that January 15, 1991 was the deadline for Iraq's removal from Kuwait.
To prepare for this, Bush sent and additional 200,000 troops to the Middle East. In December, Saddam refused to negotiate but release most of the hostages anyway. January 16: American, Saudi Arabia and Britain launched an air attack on Iraq. The defeat of Iraq occurred in only 6 weeks.
Olivia Shaffer
Bush Takes Over
George H.W. Bush: elected President of the United States in 1988.
In the election of 1988, the republican duo of George H.W. Bush and J. Danforth Quayle successfully defeated Democrats Michael Dukakis and Reverand Jesse Jackson.
As a veteran of WWII, and a past member of Congress, Bush brought a wide range of experience to the White House.
Bush promised Americans a "kindler, gentler nation".
Drugs, Education, Environment
Like most people, George Bush was a strong opposer to spread of illegal drugs.William Bennett was appointed the "drug czar" to oversee the nation's "war on drugs".
To improve education, Bush called a conference of the nation's governors to solve the current problems. Unfortunately, Bush explained that schools would have to raise money to put the standards into effect.
Another issue Bush was faced with was the environmental pollution. To help fufill the job as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Bush appointed environmental defender William Reilly. Reilly's first obstacle to overcome was nuclear waste. Nuclear waste was all the left over supplies from nuclear testing, which were extremely harmful to society. To decrease the amount of nuclear waste, 17 military plants manufacturing nuclear weapons were closed.
The Savings and Loan Crisis
S&Ls: savings and loan institutions that had long financed mortgages for Americans buying homes.
During Reagan's presidency, Reagan and his administration led a campaign to deregulate S&Ls. However, this led S&Ls to depend on real estate prices. When real estate prices spiraled downward in the1980s, many S&Ls went bankrupt. Once Bush took office, his administration set up a federal agency to take over all failed banks. Despite Bush's attempts to save S&Ls, the crisis had weakened the nation's banking system beyond repair.
To fix the S&Ls, George H.W. Bush and his administration estimated that it would cost $600 billion over 10 years.
Reducing the Deficit
Possible Solutions to decrease rising deficit:President Bush refused to raise taxes. During his campaign he is quoted saying, "Read my lips, No new taxes!"
Bush and Congress had to pas a budget to lower deficit by October 1st, if they wanted to avoid the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act going into effect.
FINAL BUDGET:
Raised taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, and gasoline. It also cut spending in many areas.
The result it would have: reduce deficit by nearly $500 billion over 5 years.
Flags and the Supreme Court
In 1989, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law making the burning of the American flag illegal. This strongly angered President BushTo back up their decision, the Supreme Court argued that burning the flag was a form of free speech which was protected under the First Amendment. The First Amendment protected the freedom of speech, religion, and the press.
Solutions: Bush called for a new amendment that would allow the states to outlaw defacing the American flag.
Other controversial issues facing Supreme Court: sex and race discrimination, abortion, and the death penalty.
A World in Transition
Important vocabulary:The End of the Cold War?
SInce the end of WWII, Soviet dominated governments had controlled the nations of Eastern Europe. However, in 1989 and 1990, communist governments began to collapse one by one.When a Solidarity leader was elected as head of the government, many changes began in Eastern Europe.
A Wall Comes Down
MOST SIGNIFICANT SYMBOL OF CHANGES AFTER THE WORLD WAR:
The Berlin Wall comes down.
November 1989; Berlin wall was demolished and East & West Germany were reunited.
Official date of Germany's reunion: October 4, 1990.
Moving toward democracy
Demonstrations against communism rapidly spread throughout Eastern Europe.
Czechoslovakia's communist government was forced to resign in 1989.
Rumania's dictator fled once prodemocracy demonstrations began. However, he was caught and executed along with his wife in December of 1989.
Gorbachev's power in the Soviet Union was threatened by anti-communist demonstrations.
The American response
Americans were enthusiastic when they heard about the democratic reforms in Eastern Europe. However, Bush remained cautious.
Congress decided that the money that had once gone toward the arms race could be used to expand social programs and reduce the deficit.
New Directions in Latin America
Bush took LESS militant approach to the war in Nicaragua than Reagan had. Bush created a bipartisan: U.S. would provide the contras with food, clothing, and medical supplies only.RELATIONS BETWEEN AMERICA AND NICARAGUA REMAINED UNCERTAIN.
Invasion of Panama
Panama served as a banking and shipping center for major drug dealers.
December 20, 1989: Bush sent military forces into Panama to control Manuel Noriega who had participated in corruptions of Panamanian elections.
United States helped build a new government in Panama.
Unrest in China
In the spring of 1989 Chinese students began to campaign for democratic reforms.Tiananmen Square: the place where hundreds of thousands students gathered for their campaign. Army takes later arrived killing thousands of protesters. The United States did not take strong action against this event.
A Policy Toward South Africa
President Bush believed that by taking economic action against South Africa, many of the blacks would be hurt by the destruction of jobs."constructive engagement" was a policy that kept quiet diplomacy and criticism toward S. Africa to a minimum.
Congress called for economic sanctions. (see definition at beginning of section).
in 1986, Congress passed a bill forbidding American firms to invest in South Africa.
In 1989, South Africa elected F. W. de Klerk as their new president. He passed many reforms to ease racial tensions.
His most dramatic act: Freeing Nelson Mandela (a black opponent of apartheid who had been in prison for 27 years).
President Bush continued to keep sanctions in place even after all the reforms in South Africa.
War Clouds in the Middle East
Middle East remained a threat to world peace. Saddam Hussein (Iraqi leader) rebuilt his army after Iran-Iraq war. In 1990, his troops invaded Kuwait, causing problems among all nations.A complex threat
Industrial nations became more dependent on oil in the 1980's. Saddam was on his way to controlling more than 80% of the worlds oil which caused threats to the entire world.
The World Responds
To help stop Saddam, Bush sent forces to Saudi Arabia.
United Nations approved a total boycott of Iraq trade.
Saddam held Americans/foreigners as hostages in Kuwait/Iraq in response to United Nations warship blockade.
Fugitives in a Desert Drama
Saddam allowed foreign women and children to leave Kuwait, but that was all. Any Kuwaitis who helped keep Americans safe were shot and killed infront of their own homes.Many Americans spent time in hiding to keep the safe fro the Iraqi forces.
War in the Persian Gulf
President Bush convinced the United Nations that January 15, 1991 was the deadline for Iraq's removal from Kuwait.To prepare for this, Bush sent and additional 200,000 troops to the Middle East. In December, Saddam refused to negotiate but release most of the hostages anyway.
January 16: American, Saudi Arabia and Britain launched an air attack on Iraq.
The defeat of Iraq occurred in only 6 weeks.
----